Adam Ruck

Best September. Lunch at Troisgros(www.troisgros.fr) in Roanne. It was celebrating 40 unbroken years with three Michelin stars, we were celebrating 300 miles of cycling in the Massif Central on four unpunctured Michelin tyres.

Worst A family ski outing from Courchevel to Val Thorens and back. On a sunny spring day, it was the usual story: pistes badly worn and dangerously overcrowded, lift queues unruly and acrimonious, hot chocolate overpriced and served without a smile. "Do people come here for pleasure?" my son asked in Méribel.

Adrian Woodford

Best High in the Andes, between Calí and Medellín, is Colombia's coffee triangle, a land where the mule is still equal partners with the jeep and millions of red coffee beans stretch to the horizon beneath glossy leaves. In a village near Palestina, the twice-yearly rainy seasons contrived to arrive together. We hurtled into a vast pool hall, soaked, and there, in the corner, was the Italian coffee machine, a miracle of 19th-century design. The hall's mustachioed owner stood next to his antique child, polishing it between cups. It was dented in places, and the rivets were leaking rust, but the coffee was indescribably good.

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Worst Stansted in August. The check-in zone of a no-frills carrier. The queues poised at any moment to morph into a violent mass. Great artists have worked lifetimes trying to portray this frustrated despair.

Antonia Quirke

Best A night flight from London to Newark on Continental Airlines had a particularly lovely, Seventies feel. Everything from the navy blue flock carpeting on the walls and heavily garlicked chicken casserole to the Cinzano wheeled down the aisles by women with hair like Princess Anne and the films on offer – Jaws, ET, Bringing up Baby – made for an unusually romantic experience, even in economy.

Worst A self-help holiday. Poor life coaches and ex-police women in charge, drumming that went on into the night like scenes from King Kong, goats storming through the bedroom.

Bill Cashmore

Best Hamburg and the gloriously old-fashioned Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. The restaurant was superb, the service impeccable and the spa invigorating. Hamburg itself is impressively water dominated and has a thriving restaurant scene, good art and lots of Hanseatic history. Lovely for a different sort of weekend.

Worst An elephant sanctuary in northern Thailand. The elephants are fed, watered and medically cared for but forced to provide "entertainment" everyday to entice tourists. Seeing the creatures standing on hind legs, holding begging baskets and playing elephant football was loathsome.

Clare Mann

Best A single-track road winds down to the tiny Glenelg ferry to Skye (www.skyeferry.co.uk). As we arrived, the ferry had just left. We peered into the open door of the little lighthouse and found a Thermos of coffee, homemade lavender shortbread and an honesty box. On their return, the ferry's jolly crew and their sheep dog loaded us up. As we crossed, seals bobbed around us, playing in the eddies and enjoying the spectacle of the ferry as much as we enjoyed watching them.

Worst Skiing in Zermatt. The weather was weird: one moment blue skies, the next a blanket of fog. I missed the cable car, missed our group at the top, missed the restaurant in the fog, stumbled off piste into a snowdrift, crushed my glasses and lost my phone.

Clover Stroud

Best Nantucket, where I was gripped by the history of the area's 19th-century whaling industry. Nantucket Whaling Museum is the best museum I have visited, and staying at one of the most remote spots on this tiny island, the Wauwinet Hotel, I imagined how strange it must have been to see whaling ships on the horizon. I can't wait to go back with my children.

Worst A desert island hideaway is many people's idea of holiday heaven, and it was mine, until this year, when I tried it for the first time. Call me spoilt, but I hated it, upset by the contrast of expensive hotels and the simple lives of the Maldivian fishermen. So I felt guilty, and then bored, an unpleasant combination to feel on a sunlounger.

Donald Strachan

Best The gift of an old new technology: podcasting. The iKangaroo Angels and Demons walking tour of Rome (www.ikangaroo.com) is the best thing I've bagged for free on the internet, and way better than sitting through the film. I also finally saw Giotto's frescoes in the Cappella Scrovegni, in Padua. Unfortunately, this hasn't struck Padua off my to-do list – it just made me want to go back.

Worst At a roadside restaurant in rural north-eastern France. Paying €23 for the cheapest steak on the menu was bad. But having to send it back because it was overcooked was a new French experience. It turned out the waitress was grilling as well as serving my steak. There wasn't even a chef on.

Ferne Arfin

Best On le Pont de Bir Hakeim, in a freezing mist, tired and hungry. The Eiffel Tower, bathed at dusk in a sickly sulphurous glow, was almost ugly. Suddenly, though, she exploded into cascades of brilliant, scintillating illumination. Points of light danced and swirled like diamonds against a black velvet sky. Everyone on the bridge, Parisians rushing home, couples caught in mid embrace, stopped to watch.

WorstFlying to Philadelphia with USAir. Minutes into the flight, we learned the entertainment system was broken. So no distractions. No reading either, as the overhead lamp fell into my lap. Halfway across the Atlantic, one of two lavatories available for 180 economy passengers packed up (no entry was allowed to the first-class facilities). After landing, the luggage took more than an hour to appear.

Fiona Duncan

Best Milan's Principe di Savoia hotel. Our room was ravishing, with billowing cherry red silk curtains and a beautiful glass and mosaic bathroom. In the morning we explored Milan's shops and sights; in the afternoon wonders were worked in the top-floor spa. Evening found us in the bar, a baroque winter garden wonderland. I had to be dragged away.

Worst Borrowing my son's ancient convertible to drive to a country house hotel. The journey began with the roof down, in sunshine, but when the heavens opened I attempted in vain to raise the hood. Already late, I had to plough on, the object of amazed stares from passing drivers. When I pulled up at the hotel's stately door, I was ushered from the car by the sort of unctuous staff that had to pretend I looked quite normal, instead of frozen, bedraggled and soaking wet.

Gabriella le Breton

Best Having read about Nepal's "honey hunters", who lower themselves down cliffs on bamboo ladders in search of fresh honeycomb, I was inspired to witness the dramatic process myself. Nearly a year later, after months of planning and days of trekking, I was celebrating the successful haul of fragrant, oozing honey in a remote mountain village under a star-studded sky.

Worst Suffering from terrible laryngitis and labyrinthitis, I was struggling to enjoy my journey along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Hoping for a remedy, I found a Siberian hospital and tracked down its ENT specialist, whose prescription to gargle 100g of vodka and salt every morning and 100g of vodka and honey every evening certainly had an effect, but sadly not the right one.

Ian Henderson

Best In a new city without much time I like to go for a run. Budapest was this year's favourite – out of the Corinthia Hotel on Erszebet korut, down to the river and round Margit island then up to the fairytale castle and back to the very agreeable hotel spa.

Worst Hiking up Snowdon with son and Otto the dog on a summer's evening, we pitched our tent ready for the summit at sunrise. Son and dog are urban creatures, so going outside for a pee on a moonless night was darker than either expected. Black-coated Otto – completely light-absorbent – vanished. We peered over the edge of the drop to the tarns below, fearing the worst. After two hours' searching we heard a whinny from the slope just above our camp – Otto, trembling on the loose scree.

Kathy Arnold

Best I rediscovered the fun of flying in a six-seater De Havilland Beaver from Tyaughton Lake to Vancouver, low over British Columbia's spectacular Coast Mountains (www.tyaxair.com) The sun was bright, the sky cobalt, the air still and the jagged peaks looked close enough to touch.

Worst Nearly running out of money on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Rather than flashing plastic, I always prefer to spend local currency in shops and restaurants. My stash was running low but banks are closed at weekends and the ATM refused my card.

Lucinda Baring

Best Driving an RV into Yosemite National Park and making camp amid the redwoods, hiking thousands of feet up through sequoia trees and staggering scenery and cooking spaghetti hoops over the fire. On our last night, an enormous bear came lumbering over to investigate our sausages. He was close enough to touch.

Worst They call it dune bashing for a reason. We were in Oman, being driven through the sands by our guide. Terrifying. Then the guide insisted one of us give it a try. My friend reluctantly took the wheel. Told her to put her foot down, she shot over a summit, and she freaked, slammed on the brake and hurled us into the sand. I bashed my head and my coccyx – hard. Riding camels in the desert with whiplash is not to be recommended.

Maggie O'Sullivan

Best My first visit to Hong Kong in November. The drive from the airport to Hong Kong island took my breath away and I didn't really get it back in the two days I was there. The view from the Peak, the 8pm harbour light show, the shopping, the people, the can-do atmosphere, the cleanliness and that surreal travelator in Mid Levels – I loved it all.

Worst On a trip to Whitstable (wonderful, incidentally), my sister and I took a detour to find the house where we were born in Higham. We didn't have a map but how hard could it be? Very hard. Can I nominate the Medway Towns for Worst Road Signs in England? Time and again, we picked up the trail, only to lose it at the next junction. Passing through Rochester for the third time, we regressed to squabbling children. Finally, we arrived in our old street. Our house was no longer there.

Mary-Clare Jerram

Best After booking two nights – and an in-room massage – at the Bardessono hotel (001 707 204 6055; www.bardessono.com) in the Napa Valley, California, I received an email informing me that my "spa butler would arrive 15 minutes before the treatment". The customer counts in California.

Worst The 48 hours my boyfriend and I spent just outside Paris. We were unable to book a cab to pick us up from the airport; the sommelier at one restaurant insisted we pay for a bottle of wine which he had agreed was corked; the shops were closed between noon and 2pm; and in one café we waited 45 minutes for a menu.

Worst Trying to buy Métro tickets at Gare du Nord after our Eurostar journey to Paris: rush hour, long queues, no change, and a connection to make at Gare de Lyon. Next time, I'll buy a carnet of 10 tickets (£12.20) on Eurostar or online through Rail Europe(www.raileurope.co.uk).

Sara Macefield

Best Waist-deep in the warm crystal-clear waters of the South China Sea at the deserted Thai island of Ko Kood, with champagne in one hand and a caviar tidbit in the other. Fellow cruisers in swimwear stood in the shallows chatting and revelling in the surreal luxury of the moment. This was Caviar in the Surf, one of the treats organised for passengers by Yachts of Seabourn (0845 070 0500; www.seabourn.com) during its cruises. Full marks for one of the most memorable things I've done.

Worst Stumbling into New York's Penn Station for the AirTrain to JFK for my flight home I was told the service didn't actually start in Manhattan – but at Jamaica in Queens. I needed to jump on a regular train. The station was packed and the signage poor. I waited to buy tickets in a queue, the wrong one, found the right one, waited again and staggered on to the platform, only to see my train depart.

Sasha Bates

Best The Green Gecko guesthouse in Isaan, northwest Thailand. Miles from anywhere, surrounded by trees and fields, it is a traditional Thai house, perched on stilts. Every mealtime a tiny, perpetually smiling, no English-speaking grandmother turned up to cook us the sort of meals she would make her family. No fuss, no pretension, just delicious home cooking.

Worst Cold, wet and miserable, I was watching the rain run down the window, squinting to catch a glimpse of the wind-lashed sea beyond. It was a beachside restaurant, what felt like the twentieth I'd been in already, because what else can you do but eat and drink when you're into your fourth day of rain in Ibiza? I ordered a tuna salad. It took 40 minutes to arrive and consisted of an upended tin of tuna circled by four halves of tomato. It cost €12. It pretty much summed up my holiday.

Simon Horsford

Best Catching a shark on honeymoon in Namibia. Of course, nothing ought to rival the fortnight itself, but landing a 40lb spotted gully and a 90lb "bronzy" was unforgettable (both were returned to the sea). On a chilly afternoon, it took four hours of trying, mind.

Worst A reminder that there can be a sting in the tail to every African adventure came when a guest at one of the lodges in Namibia confessed to a painful introduction to the country. Taking a shower one afternoon, he'd failed to check his towel for insects and was promptly stung by a scorpion on a particularly delicate part of his anatomy. I could almost feel his agony.

Sophie Butler

Best A week in Turkey, staying at Club Teos (booked through Neilson, 0844 879 8155; www.neilson.co.uk), where we sailed and visited lots of local ruins on mountain bikes.

Worst Opening the curtains on the first day of a walking trip in Andalucia in April and seeing the rain lash down. It was made worse at breakfast when the hotelier cheerfully told me that until then, they'd had perfect spring weather.

Tim Jepson

Best Assisi was good, but Corsica was better: what a fantastic island – still the Mediterranean as I imagine it might have been in the Fifties. We walked from coast to coast, through staggering granite mountains, ending at an utterly charming hotel in Piana (the Roches Rouges), with one of Europe's great views, and then – in late October – swam in warm, limpid seas under a hot sun. You have to go: it's a simple as that.

Worst "Why have you come to Las Vegas," asked the US airport immigration official. "Er, for rest and relaxation," I blathered. "Huh, he snorted. "You'll only get that in Vegas if you stay in your hotel room." Which, sadly, is precisely what I did, after going down with food poisoning. Two days between bed and bathroom, and then not a morsel passed my lips in a downward direction for the next 60 hours.

Tim Pozzi

Best A friend and I had cycled to the southernmost point of Sicily, expecting to find a bar for lunch. We found only rocks and a car park. Then the light rain became a downpour. Soon we were like drowned rats, and desperate for food and shelter. After 45 minutes of pedalling through the deluge, we happened on a pizzeria on the edge of a nondescript town. The cavernous interior was deserted, its marble floor made for dripping on. The proprietor's wife disappeared into the kitchen, and soon we were dining like kings. The sound of the rain hammering down outside was like sweet music.

Worst I have always been in awe of Sweden's wildernesses. But on a five-hour drive from Stockholm, I soon grew very bored of trees and water. Then, when we reached my friend's cabin, I discovered Sweden's mosquitos. Squadrons of the horrors bombarded us from the moment we stepped out of the car, non-stop, for three days and nights. Our idyllic surrounds were transformed into a species of hell. No wonder so much of Sweden is empty.

York Membery

Best Taking a float plane (www.georgianbayairways.com) over Algonquin Park in the Muskoka, a vast, lake-studded, thickly-wooded region north of Toronto, just as the area's maples were turning.

Worst Paying €12 for two mini-Diet Cokes my wife had taken from the minibar of our Valencia hotel room, having no idea of the likely financial damage. And being stung on the foot by a weaver fish on a South Coast beach.